Sports - Current Affairs for January, 2017

Sports Current Affairs for January, 2017

Month wise coverage of Sports Current Affairs helps you improve your general knowledge and prepare for all competitive exams like IBPS, Bank PO, SBI PO, RRB, RBI, LIC, Specialist Officer, Clerk, SSC, UPSC, Railway etc. This section is updated daily with the most important events.

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Ronnie Screwvala, a producer and entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of UTV Group, is set to launch an electronic sports (eSports) league in India.

Called UCypher, the first tournament of its kind will have10 teams taking part in PC, console and mobile games’ league.

His company, USports, has earmarked INR 80-100 crore to spend on the league.

The full format of the league is expected to go live as soon as March and will be broadcast in May on linear television.

About eSports

eSports will be a PC, console and mobile games league.

The first season of the league will have six teams.

It will be a pilot season lasting anywhere between 45 and 60 days.

10 teams will be going forward for the same duration.

USports is already in talks with two youth channels to air the linear television format of the league.

Target audience for mobile and PC is mostly in the age group of 9-12 year olds. For console it is 16-25 years.

eSports is relatively new to the Indian market.

It has a massive share in markets like US, China, Korea, Japan and many European countries. According to reports, the world’s eSports industry is expected to grow from US$493 million in 2016 to US$1.1 billion in 2019.

Virat Kohli has taken over from Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India's limited-overs captain, becoming his country's skipper in all three formats of the game, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said on 6th Jan 2016.

Dhoni has been named wicketkeeper in the squads for three one-dayers and three Twenty20 Internationals against England beginning on Jan 15.

The 35-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman gave up the limited-overs captaincy on 4th Jan 2016 after nine trophy-laden years, which included two World Cups and a Champions Trophy.

Having taken over the test captaincy from Dhoni in late 2014 and led the team to top the top of the ICC rankings, the 28-year-old Kohli was an obvious choice to skipper the limited-overs squads.

India's limited-overs stalwart Yuvraj Singh returned to both the one-day and Twenty20 squads after his impressive form in domestic cricket.

MS Dhoni has informed the BCCI of his decision to step down as the captain of the Indian Cricket Team from the One Day Internationals and the T20 Internationals formats of the game.

Dhoni will however, be available for selection in ODI and T20 format. The decision of how long he would be captain of the limited over squads in light of Virat Kohli's success in the longer format was being debated.

Mr Rahul Johri, CEO of the BCCI appreciated how under Dhoni, Indian team has touched new heights and his achievements will remain etched forever in the annals of Indian cricket.

Dhoni gave up Test Captaincy in Dec 2014 when he retired from the format after the Melbourne Test. However, he stayed on as ODI and T20 international captain after having taken on those roles in 2007.

Although the next captain was not announced, Virat Kohli, currently captaining the Test team, will take over the mantle.

Dhoni has phenomenal success as a limited overs captain, winning the World T20 (2007), the ICC World Cup (2011) and the Champions Trophy in 2013.

He also holds the record for most matches as captain of an international side, with 331 games across formats.

He is also the only player to have captained more than 50 matches in each of the three formats apart from being the only captain to win all three ICC Trophies-World Cup, WT20 and Champions Trophy.

He debuted in 2004 internationally. He was named captain of T20 side in 2007. He became ODI captain after Rahul Dravid relinquished his post.

There is a resignation spree among top cricket administrators post the Jan 2 decision of the SC to sack BCCI President Anurag Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke for failure to implement Lodha committee reforms.

SC on 2nd Jan 2016 removed Anurag Thakur as President of BCCI for not complying with orders and also issued notices by contempt and perjury cases should not be lodged against him.

The court also ordered the removal of Ajay Shirke as BCCI Secretary and slapped show cause notice on him as well.

Senior most vice president of the BCCI will chair meetings till the names of administrators are decided.

Thakur and Shirke will now have to respond for lying under oath to scuttle reforms of the Lodha committee.

Lodha committee submitted three reports before SC which were accepted by the SC in its July 18, 2016 order.

The Justice RM Lodha Committee's recommendations for a revamp of the BCCI were also taken into serious consideration, with the SC disqualifying all the board and its state association office bearers who have failed to meet the new norms set by the panel.

The SC will replace the top brass of the BCCI with a new panel of administrators, also to be decided on January 19.

The SC appointed senior advocates Fali S Nariman and Gopal Subramaniam as amicus curiae and asked them to suggest the names of those deemed capable of administering the BCCI.

The SC has said Anurag Thakur may face a jail term if he was found guilty of lying under oath in an attempt to obstruct the Lodha Committee reforms, but reserved its order on a verdict.

The Union Sports Ministry has derecognised the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on the issue of nominating scam tainted duo Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Chautala as its life presidents.

The deemed recognition of IOA has been suspended until it reverses its decision. Kalmadi was jailed in connection with the Common Wealth Games (CWG) scam while Chautala is facing charges in disproportionate assets case.

Earlier on 27 December 2016, Kalmadi and Chautala were elevated to the honorary position of life

Presidents at the IOA’s Annual General Meeting in Chennai.

The IOA was given time to reply the show-cause notice issued by the Ministry threatening de-recognition if it does not reverse its decision.

Lionel Messi has been voted as the best playmaker in the world for 2016 earlier on 29th Dec 2016, after the results were made public by the IFFHS.

According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, the Argetine player collected 172 points, four more than last year, finishing ahead of Andres Iniesta, second in ranking with 66 points and Toni Kross, third with 45 points.

The top 10 as per votes collected in 56 countries are:

Player

Points

Messi (Barcelona)

172

Iniesta (Barcelona)

66

Kroos (Real Madrid)

45

Özil (Arsenal)

39

Mahrez (Leicester)

36

Modric (Real Madrid)

36

De Bruyne (Manchester City)

31

Pogba (Manchester United)

26

Hazard (Chelsea)

14

Payet (West Ham)

8

The award was won for the first time by current Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane in 2006 followed by Kaka in 2007.

The following years were dominated by Xavi and Iniesta, while Kroos was the best in 2014.

Know More About the IFFHS

The IFFHS started this award in 2006.

It has been dominated by La Liga players since then.

The first recipient of the accolade was in 2006: Zinedine Zidane.

Kaka won it in the following year.

Toni Kroos won the award in 2014.

Messi won it last season.

This award is decided by votes from 56 countries from five different continents.

Messi is a five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Chronology of events

Sergey Karjakin has turned the tables on rival grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, winning the World Blitz chess championship in Doha, Qatar. I

India’s star singles tennis player Somdev Devvarman (31) announced his retirement from professional tennis.

Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel has decided to constitute a Committee headed by Secretary (Sports) to suggest improvements in the National Sports Development Code and functioning of Sports Federations.

Sergey Karjakin of Russia won Gold medal in the World Blitz Chess Championship title held in Doha, Qatar by defeating Norway’s Magnus Carlsen.

The India women’s football team won their 4th consecutive South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) women’s championship title beating Bangladesh 3-1 in the final at the Kanchenjunga Stadium.

Novak Djokovic from Serbia won the 2017 Qatar Open tennis title in the men’s single category.

Spain’s Roberto Bautista won the 2017 Chennai Open title in the men’s single category. In the final match, he defeated Russia’s Daniil Medvedev by 6-3, 6-4 score.

The UK has become the first country in the world to officially recognise parkour as a sport. Parkour is also known as free running or art du deplacement.

Gujarat has its maiden Ranji Trophy title when it beat Mumbai by 5 wickets in the final tie. In doing so, it became the 17th to win the title by defeating Mumbai in the final match.’

Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu by clocking 02:09:32 hours time won the 14th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in the men’s category. Kenya’s Bornes Kitur won the women’s title in 02:29:02 hours.

Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has launched a talent search portal in a bid to spot bright sportsmen and groom them.

Cricket icon Kapil Dev was inducted into Legends Club ‘Hall of Fame’ at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Nirmal Yadav, aged 65, set a national record at the recently concluded 60th National Shooting Championship in Pune. The shooter from Delhi shot 341/400 to set the meet record in the Veteran Women’s 10m Air Pistol event.

Ousted BCCI President Anurag Thakur was unanimously elected head of the Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association (HPOA).

Indian test and ODI captain Virat Kohli became the fastest captain to score 1000 runs. He achieved this feat in 17 innings as captain.

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has reconstituted TOP committee with objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games under Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme. The committee will be headed by Abhinav Bindra, Olympic Gold Medalist.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) launched India’s first ever Women’s Football League (IWL) with an aim to make football a professional sport for women in the country.

India’s top seeded cueist Pankaj Advani won his seventh National Billiards Championship in the final match held in Pune (Maharashtra)

To interest the young audiences at the 2020 Olympics, the organisers of the Tokyo Games have unveiled Japan’s cult anime character Son Goku as its ambassador.

Serena Williams has added to her ever-growing legend, beating sister Venus 6-4 6-4 in the Australian Open 2017 final.

In the men’s doubles final, Australia’s John Peers teamed up with Henri Kontinen to deny the Bryan brothers yet another grand slam title.

British snooker professional Ronnie O’Sullivan sealed a world record seventh Masters Title.